18. So right! We have a good friend, a plumber, who has had to retire early at 62 because his left

shoulder is shot from carrying heavy fixtures for 35 years, his knees are both getting replaced due to having worked on them for so many years and his eyes are in bad shape because he was a solderer before he was a plumber. Thankfully, he worked for the state university system and is in a union which covers him with medical insurance until he reaches Medicare age. And he has a pension.

Our auto mechanic has none of that. His wife died at an early age from a cancer that wasn't caught in time because he was self employed and could not afford decent medical insurance. His sons and daughter work in his shop and their kids are on state health care. They all work like dogs and have seen their income drop because of the recession. They are good people and incredibly hard working but are Republicans and I can't figure it out.